The Opelousas courier., 1887-12-03

go to par, and the credit of the State viii be as
good and as fair as any in the Union.
d;serimins3a IA its de5ts, making one q privi-
legged and another adishonored obligation. AL
its creditors should be treated with the same de-
Eree OF fairness.
He asks: How can the State be on a cash
basis in the face of these facts?" What
facts Those, of course. born OF his lmagI-
nation. Ny answer is, as l stated Ill my ad-
dress, the State is
1t is q fact, and the holders, OF warrants for
the current year know it. The public know
too much tnetgred with repudraslon 70 De
that the baby bonds and outstanding war
rants are vslid obligations against the State.
He must know that the baby bonds. notwith-
standing liz e., they Syya IepIfIes sdmi IN paTa Sne ia are valid
constituted bonds, and II the fund T = -
which their payment was predlcated ls a
myth and a sham, as stated, II is the
dusn Oh But suS Judge Htdes White objects, because
the recommendation l made necessarily In,
cludcs the levying of a tax to pay the bonds"
In other words, he don't want to provide for
How can YOU ave a successful financial
policy with sucR' ideas as these7 Who will
have faith in any party that advocates such
a doctrine7 Already We re have ga fe,S th 1eed syp
upon the debt settlements policy advocated
| by Gen. Nichols to that extent that he slgned
the petition of bondholders requesting me TO
bring the matter to the attention 81 sne Leg,
| people. If he does not himself now de-
| nounce the settlement, which has been OF
| great advantage to the State. yet ne permits
it to be denounced as infamous IN DIS near
ing. - $1,000
In discussing this matter why does not
Judge White show the improvement over me
financial policy of GOV. Nichols. He asks:
'tAre the value of the public securities. OF
the State so high as to create the impression
that our financial condition ls sonnd :. l
answer, YEs-when compared with the tinan-
cial condition when Coy. Nleholls LETT the
bonds ut about 30 cents on the dollar: Now
they are, according to Judge Whites figures,
from 90 to go. They would rapidly &C to
par if the reform orators would do justice 70
| the State and give her true condition as to
her government resources, educational ad-
| vancement, and her true financial condition.
| During the Nichols administration only
i4 as4. per how cent se OF ner .ax cent "s are col COL
lected. I again reaffirm everything stated
at Monroe, and again assert that II 1t had not
been for the floating debt, which was handed
down from the Nichols administration, and
which in large part has been paid out Of the
one mill general fund tax, there would not
be an outstanding warrant of the present adj
ministration. TheState governmenthas been
economically. conducted, and the expenses
have always been within the estimated reve..
nuea, as intended by the Constitution or
1875. That Constitution did not anticipate
the payment of the floating indebtedness or
the Nichols administration out of the one
mill general fund tax. The expenses OF the
State government are s3OQ,000 less per
annumt than during Gov. Nichols, term. lie
saws from 1884 Town to 1886 the annual
appropriations have exceeded the revenues.
Thus for 1881 the outstanding warrants are
$104, 212, for 1851 S62. $50. Tor 1856
$~21s,14s. making. q total OF $3.50, 34o.a
speech he refers to. There is no new devel-
opment in his statement. But he suppresseh
facts. If he had given the balance OF my
speech on this subject he would have found
the following facts.
We have been called upon to psy out of the one
General fund tax for the support of the q
State government debts unprovided. 90, ~ =.
Am d1r II borrowed tsn.o Q from fiscal agent by ' '
Sichoils' $4,000 OF
.s4O5.ouO OF
out constitutional ordinance. -...... lS6,Ii4 d
And also for printer. money borrowed
from fiscal agent, both OF which ac-
counts ought to have come out OF az 90, !.
And s also for i IS due prior to i5so by
La. q. and A. and NJ. Couege........ ss,oU U
Totsl .s714, 7O4 g
Therefore I was justified in saying, 'hae
it not been for these extraordinary demands.
legaeies from former administrations, tht
State would not have q warrant issued since
1880 outstanding. These are the embar
easements which came to this .adminlstra
ton, and III order to restore fhe warrants
thus necessarily made outstanding l adYlsee
their funding and retirement, towhlchJudg'
White objects; and Notwithstanding his OBJ
iections to paying the honesttFdebtS OF TIN
. State, he puts in a saving clause thathe want
to keep faith with the public creditor, and
in such misstatenIents that hurhState credit
and inlet a serious injury upSh the honest
creditor. a.
In the parish of East Carol there has beer
!, built by the State ofIouisiana since l hay'
} been in the Executive Office $50, 726 cQbi
!, yards of levee, costing $132, 2S1, anSSby
tho Fifth Louisiana Leyee District, includ
ing contracts under way, -474, s07 cubic
yards, costing 5000 70 e. n fT dus s T g 2
East Carroll, from page $50 Allsslsslpp
River Commission report, Dec. FL. 1883
and pages 2964-65, of their report Of Jul.
! d,5bi LISA ysTas appears pea eo Sc Is aa not s Rssa o3o'oo'
How does j. happen that the Mississippi
! River Commission is now doing leyee ,Worl
in Louisiana as an auxiliary to channel i'm
proyement7 Was there any levee work don.
! by the Commission prior to 1887 III SO,
am not aware OF it. You who are SO dmucl
J interested in leves work. understand. 10
, what purpose the Commission was organized
4 HI bdD lOI VA LIZ Az SAAfA 0tsAtA
improvement, and you all know the conflict
{ ing views on the best modes Ut reaching
these results, the Opposition Sto leyee Wort
because of it's effect on the reclamation Q
. land and the proYiso prohibiting leyee wor!
! The first crest argument with which I ar
, acquaintedLh which the duty of the genera
government to directly take charge OF tn
: Ievees was made by Senator Eustis in 1878
which at once advanced him TO the from
: rank Of the intelligent men of the nation.
3 But there has been 9 manifest change i
! public opinion, and in the views of stateslne
and of members of the Commission ON thi
matter. The public, the statesmen. and til
! Commission had to be educated and enlighI
! enea .t by ia. fact sis and sfr BY sxHRe era of 1890 IN NJ
/ annual message to the General Assembly.
!. stated:
sippi river shoals wherever there are crevasse
? or outlets and deepers wherever the leyees RI
: main. A line of levees will deepen itschanne
t Ia series of creyasses Will shoal 1t. In every al
: preparation for the Improvement of harbor e
4 river there are certain facts to DO ascertained b
: the ooutiay Comes Within fhs class or deseriptio
Of works falling under the constitutional prov
4 often in other appropriations. ExpeFient
: proves whether it is necessary t. deepen the "a
: ing it Is within the discretion Of Congress. Th.
: body has already declared that it is necessary I
! i cSagess th Tn ai issts agata siy e t Ry d meg.sR 81 i /
river has proved q success even beyond expect
t ton. The levees operate the same as the Jetti'
d | by confining the current of the river. There
q only o difference In name and not in efect, 81
Z it can make no difference in constitutional col
Z struction. That q large section of country wi
blythe leyees Ii no reason why the prohibitfc
, should exist as to their construction. Tho Je
= waters OF the Gulf to New Orleans. BY extern
!, inc thentu up the river, a deep channel will be s
cured 30 the port of st. Louis. The same THU
Z can be done by 1eyees. and it both banks are su
: stantielly projected by leyeesand the water co
n fined to It's channel it will be no unusual sfgl
TO see steamships lying at the wharyes of 9
Louis,or even those Of Chicago, since it might
and probably would be found imperative to q
i large the proposed Hennepfn Canal, and Join Il
: Mississippi with the 6reatlakes by a ship cans
To show what q change had taken place
Il the views of the Commission / will read q